The Art and Science of the ReTweet; or ReTweeting with a Twist

When Twitter incorporated the ReTweet into their interface they did us all a disservice. Because they broke the Art of the Retweet. Today if you want to do an additive RT you have to use a tool like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. Or copy and past the entire tweet back into Twitter… and well… you won't do it. So today most people retweet by simply hitting the Retweet link now provided on twitter's page.

The problem is, this form of RT does two things wrong. 1. It does not allow you to JOIN the conversation, merely post or promote the tweet to your following. 2. It does not show up in other people's twitter feed unless they are following BOTH of you (the tweeter and the tweet-receiver). This post was originally written in 2009, before twitter.com did us all a disservice and demoted the power of the retweet. For all the Twitter wisdom you could ever want see my work-in-progress: The Twitter Way.

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Twitter is a wonderful beast. All changing, scamming, Oprahing millions of us trying to figure out how to use it to… What?

What are YOU using Twitter for?

To Learn.

To Sell.

To Discover Something New.

To Connect with New People.

As a Broadcast IM.

As a Sales Channel.

As a Business Opportunity.

To Have Fun and Joke Around.

Just Because It's New.

Does "microblogging" mean anything to you?

In the year (s) of tweeting behind me, I have developed some strategies for engaging my tweetstream that I hope might be helpful to you.

The illumination/discovery path for today is going to be the dreaded and most valuable tweet technique the RT, or ReTweet.

Part 2: Use the RT feature in your Twitter app du jour. (if your not using a Twitter app to manage Twitter, well… That's another post: Putting a Dashboard Around Twitter.)

Part 3: Be Additive and Subtractive.

Part 4: ReTweet.

So let's look at Part 3 more closely.

Additive: Adding your comment or twist on someones tweet to add value/humor/meaning/dialogue to the twittersphere.

I'll pull one off the stream right now and give an example:

So I will hit the RT button in Tweetdeck (my Twitter app of choice, you can see that Alex is using Tweetie — probably on a trendy iPhone!) and being my additive process.

[Here's the RT without any work from me] RT @BaldMan RT @BaldMan: Long line at Genuine Joe, but I wait as I need my caffeine.

But I am interested in adding to Alex's tweet in some way, usually to join or joke with Alex himself. And also, by ReTweeting Alex at all, to introduce my followers to BaldMan as a cool person to follow. Since I am following him and clearly ReTweeting with some joy his somewhat mundane "gettin coffee" tweet. (no offense Alex)

Some folks are happy to RT without modification, and I will do this occasionally if I am in a hurry and I REALLY DON'T WANT YOU TO MISS SOMETHING. But if I am connecting with BaldMan/Alex in any significant way, then I am will do my part to Twist or Comment on his Tweet via my ReTweet. (Have I lost you yet?)

[Here's my Additive RT of Alex's "gettin coffee" Tweet] RT @BaldMan: Long line at Genuine Joe, but I wait as I need my caffeine. >> Oh, boy Alex, mine's gone cold. Could'ya bring a warm up and pastry for me?

Dang, I'm at 151 characters. (Tweetdeck shows -11 in RED, so I know what I have to cut] So I have several choices. I can shorten my response. Since Alex and I no longer work together, my plea for a warm up is ficticious. And inside joke for us and a "connector."

Or… I can get subtractive of Alex's part, and fit my ADD by shortening his original Tweet.

hey buddy,i m facing a lot of troubles to learn twitter about how to use it.I visited http://thetwittersecret.com/ some time ago to know abot the twitter applications which gave me a little information.